>> reporter: and they're not going to have to wait that long. this year, a little different than in years past, where a lot of the performances go first and then the president comes out and turns on the christmas tree. this year the tree will be lit in about five minutes from now at 5:07. we'll have it live coming up. will people behind me, we've got the stage all lit, the free show happening out there right now. the president getting ready to make his way down here. you can see behind me the white house right back there. that is the president's caravan making its way -- beginning to at least make its way down here. we're waiting for them to come down before they're able to turn on the tree. once again, that happening at 5:07. we'll be back. and of course, it is a chilly night here, but that's exactly what we expect this time of the year. ladies, that's exactly what we wanted, as long as we're bundled up and prepared for it. and we are. >> all right. thank you, doug. more from doug coming up in a few minutes. news4 has learned from exclusive details tonight about efforts to relocate the district's fbi headquarters

downtown on pennsylvania avenue. d.c. officials have privately said they would support moving the fbi to prince george's county, if the county would allow the redskins to move back to the district. tom sherwood is here with new developments. tom, what's the story? >> doreen, d.c., maryland and virginia all want the fbi headquarters. the redskins would be a new wrinkle. the fbi headquarters downtown has a hyper security focus. it creates a dead space along pennsylvania avenue, just blocks from the capitol. now that the fbi is looking to move to a bigger and better space, regional business leaders say there's new hope the dead fbi block can be rebuilt with businesses, condos, retail and night life. >> this would be a very big shot in the arm to downtown washington, to better utilize that space. and god help us not that building. >> not one of the -- it is the ugliest building in the city, and could be in the country. >> reporter: a regional battle has broken out between d.c.,

maryland and virginia. prince george's would support moving to prince george's county if that county allowed the redskins to break the team's lease and move back to washington. revenue chairman jack evans wouldn't discuss those private talks, but acknowledged the city's interest. >> certainly the idea of a switch for the fbi moving to prince george's county, and say the redskins moving back to the city in a brand-new stadium at rfk, would be something i would certainly be interested in. >> reporter: in a written response to news4, prince george's county executive rashern baker rebuffed the idea. the baker administration is not entertaining any discussions around moving the washington redskins back to washington, d.c. the fbi with its large work force and space needs is a prime target for all three jurisdictions. earlier this week, virginia's

democratic and republican congressional leaders wrote a letter to federal officials saying northern virginia should get the prize. >> we have a lot of federal agencies already here in northern virginia, including, of course, the pentagon. the largest federal agency. right down the road is the quantico training center for the fbi. >> the federal government is just in the early stages of deciding where the fbi headquarters will go. wendy and doreen? >> all right, tom sherwood. police arrested a 17-year-old student for bringing a gun on campus in montgomery county. he showed up just before 8:00 this morning, and a campus officer asked him to leave. but he did not. the officer then arrested him and police found an unloaded handgun in his backpack. they did not find any ammunition. the student is now charged with possession of a weapon school property, along with some other charges. breaking news out of prince george's county. tonight, police say they have made an arrest in the murder of

a 14-year-old boy in louisdale. 24-year-old jose rodriguez nunez is charged with murder in the drive-by shooting that killed reyes. rodriguez nunez has been taken into custody just after the shooting. police are still looking for other leads in that incident. a woman was sexually attacked at an econo lodge in woodbridge, virginia. the victim was a clerk there. pat collins is in woodbridge with more on a call for help that came just before the attack happened. pat? >> reporter: doreen, it's a sexual assault where it appears the suspect had a scheme to get to his victim. >> it scares me. it scares me to death. >> reporter: that's sherri brown, an extended stay resident at the econo lodge in woodbridge. she was here last night when it happened. here when a 33-year-old clerk was sexually assaulted. >> i'm scared to go outside.

i'm not even going to go get no ice. >> reporter: cops back at the scene today looking for more evidence. more information. last night, they went room to room to check things out. >> show your driver's license. they took a picture of you, and they searched your room. >> reporter: police tell the story this way. they say around 10:00 last night, a man calls the office, and tells the clerk he's locked out of his second-floor room. she leaves the office and goes outside to help him out. as she climbs the stairs, a masked man with a knife comes up from behind and forces her into that room. >> once she gets inside, she's rendered unconscious. and she wakes up to her -- to him, the suspect assaulting her. >> reporter: this does not appear to be a spur of the moment attack.

imagine what that suspect had to do. he had to know that the clerk on duty last night was a woman. he had to know the phone number of the econo lodge. he had to come up with a story to lure her out of the office. and he had to know that that room, the room he forced her into, was vacant. on november 18th, there was an attempted assault of a cleaning lady at the econo lodge. police made an arrest in that case. and on november 17th, police say there was an attempted assault of a woman at the rodeway motel down the street. no arrest in that case, but police believe it's not related to the sex assault last night at the econo lodge. and here at the econo lodge, they say they plan to add more security lights, more security cameras, and a security guard. live in prince william county, i'm pat collins, news4.

we now have surveillance photos of a bombing suspect who damaged an atm at a bank in fredericksburg. police say the suspect appears to be wearing a ski mask, jeans, dark colored hoodie, and they're hoping these images will lead to an arrest. that bombing happened early yesterday morning at the virginia credit union. someone put an explosive device at the base of the atm near the drive-in window. the bank and six apartments nearby were temporarily evacuat evacuated. president obama was in falls church of fairfax county visiting a family today to talk about the looming fiscal cliff. the president met with high schoolteacher tiffany santana and her husband and parents. tiffany wrote to the white house in a social media campaign to talk about looming -- how the looming tax increases would impact middle class families if the lawmakers don't reach a deal by the end of the month. >> so it would be more like a $4,000 tax increase for us. which would be relatively devastating for our family.

so i wanted to share that with the white house. i wasn't sure i was going to get a response. but i did want to at least make my voice heard. >> news4's julie carey sat down with the santanas. she'll have more on why they said hosting the president was overwhelming. that's coming up at news4 at 6:00. an effort to end serious violence, civil war moved forward today. secretary of state hillary clinton met with russia's foreign minister and syria's u.n. peace envoy to try to negotiate a peace strategy. they reportedly met for about 40 minutes in dublin to talk about how the start of political transition. this comes after defense secretary leon panetta warned syrian president may be considering using chemical weapons. yesterday reports surfaced that syria is loading chemical weapons into bombs. a longtime face of the conservative movement and a tea party favorite is stepping down from congress.

south carolina senator jim demint is stepping down. he's decided to do so at a time when the movement needs strong leadership. republican south carolina governor will select a replacement for that seat. she will not appoint herself. police arrested a school aide of inappropriately touching three students. it happened at the maryland school for the deaf at columbia campus in howard county. 37-year-old clarence taylor is fising three counts of child sex abuse now. the girls say taylor touched them several times when he worked an evening shift as a dormitory aide between 2008 and 2010. the girls were 10 to 13 years old at the time. police say there could be more victims. the school has suspended taylor. still ahead on news4 at 5:00, they are awaiting the first family down on the ellipse for the lighting of the national christmas tree. they should be getting there any minute now. we will take you there live. doug kammerer is down there. also ahead, traffic backed up for miles on the beltway this morning.

what happened with a fruit truck that caused problems for so many drivers. the duchess of cambridge out of the hospital after a battle with severe morning sickness. now she's getting an apology. attacks on animals at a woman's farm. what

a close watch on what's happening down at the ellipse,

where they're getting ready to light the national christmas tree. not going to be any moment, though. we will take you live there when it's just about to happen. we hope you'll stay tuned for that. now to a mystery in gaithersburg. owners of a farm there say something has been killing their sheep. derrick ward reports now there's growing concern that the animal attacks could start to move up the food chain. >> reporter: the aftermath of the attacks in gaithersburg, the bodies covered by tarp. the killing had been silent, and efficient. they didn't hear it. but at morning light the goats and other animals were acting strange. that told her something had happened. >> when we got up, we looked outside, and noticed there were sheep in the front field that had been killed. >> reporter: it was the second such attack in three weeks. among the victims, sheep of a prized genetic line, and a pregnant ewe, likely the slower ones, the ones that couldn't escape. she said it looks like the work of a pack of competitors.

it looked canine. >> assuming they are coyotes or dogs, we looked around the creek beds and found prints leading a couple of different directions. >> reporter: the animals were not eaten or eviscerated. this was killed for sport. perhaps it was wild dogs allowed to roam free. if that were the case, the signs would be obvious to the owners. >> those dogs came home very bloody last night, yes. and even the first incident, the animals must have come home with blood on them. >> reporter: there's also concern about what can happen if a small child is around. or small children. because the sheep that have been taken down aren't small sheep. they weighed up to 200 pounds. >> yes, that's our greatest concern. i have a child myself, a 10-year-old little girl. and we have so many kids in the surrounding area, and they all play outside. >> reporter: she said there's no mystery in the notion that they found easy prey. and they're likely to come back. in gaithersburg, derrick ward,

news4. things are back to normal on the beltway this evening after a truck filled with pineapples crashed this morning on the outer loop near 270. chopper 4 captured this video of the truck flipped on its side. this caused about a nine-mile backup in the heart of the morning commute. you may have been there. crews helped clear the scene, transferring the fruit from one truck to another. the driver wasn't hurt and the cause of the crash is being investigated. despite all this damage, no one was hurt when an suv slammed into the strip mall in wheaton. went through the front door of a hair salon and check cashing business around 11:30 this morning. that's the 2500 block of anuls avenue. the gas supply had to be cut off as a precaution. no word yet on the cause of this either. another warm weekend coming our way. but for now, it's kind of chilly to be out there for the national christmas tree light sdplg that makes it kind of christmassy.

let's get more from doug kammerer who's down there. how's it looking? is it going to get lit soon? >> reporter: it's looking very good. the sun went down about 20 minutes ago. right now they've got the navy band that is on. and we're looking for the president. the president is on his own time. he's supposed to be here a little bit earlier and light the tree at 5:07. look up toward the white house now. you can actually see the motorcade right in front of the white house is still there. so the president and first lady, the first family not quite here yet. of course, they will be turning on the christmas tree when they get down here a little bit later. we're live in front of the white house on the ellipse. we're going to continue to be here through the rest of the evening. this is by far one of my favorite events of the year. this is now my third year down here. year number one was freezing cold. year number two was really cold. here we are at year number three, and it's just cold, and that's not bad. temperatures in the last couple of days in the 70s. on monday and tuesday.

so right now, temperatures in the upper 30s to around 40 degrees, not bad out here right now. we're still waiting to see exactly what happens as far as this is concerned, waiting for the president. but right now, we have somebody who's going to tell us everything that we need to know, veronica johnson, the 90th annual lighting of the krisz mass tree. v.j., talking about cold weather coming in. not just for tonight, but maybe the next couple of days. but maybe another warm-up in store, too. >> up and then back down. i think when we go back down, we'll probably stay down in seasonable temperatures for a while. it would have been kind of weird and funky out there if we had 70s for the christmas tree lighting. 42 degrees right now at reagan national. the sun definitely going down. the wind light. it's just at 5 miles per hour right now. and throughout the region, not doing too bad. we're seeing some of the temps fall fast up to the north. montgomery county, gaithersburg, mount airy, ellicott city, all

around 36 to 37 degrees. manassas, warrenton, falls church, too, in the upper 30s right now. take a look at storm team 4 radar. we've got moisture coming in from the northwest and moisture coming up from the south, all helping to produce some moisture around here for tomorrow morning. so we're expecting a few light showers and sprinkles early at 5:00, 6:00, 7:00 a.m. but probably over with at around 11:00 a.m. and then for saturday, looks like we would have rain early saturday with that weather front just to the north of us. right now, it looks as though that front will stay up to the north. so saturday now looking dry. but with clouds around. and some morning fog. maybe even some late day sunshine. then we'll see showers return on sunday. here's a look at the forecast. increasing clouds, cool, 35 to 39 degrees for your evening. tomorrow morning, a few sprinkles. you'll just need the small umbrella for tomorrow morning to get by. not too bad at 30 to 36 degrees.

over the maryland line, though, in the high spots of pennsylvania, they're talking about freezing rain. if you're driving northward, that's what you can expect. 50 to 55 degrees. we're nice and cool for tomorrow. and look at the next four days. mid-60s for saturday. 50s for sunday, with a northeast wind. and rain, our best chance on monday that could end with some mixed conditions in the form of maybe some light snow, mixed in with a few ice pellets. we'll be watching that very closely. i'm going to toss it back out to meteorologist doug kammerer. because doug, what i want to know is, you've got the events on the stage, the lighting of the national christmas tree, but what are some of the events that take place on the sidelines? >> reporter: that's the coolest thing, over the next month, this sa four-week event going through the holidays into next year. one of the coolest things that i love is at the base of the christmas tree. they've got a huge train set up. one of the biggest train setups i've seen in all of my lifetime.

and you know that's a long time. they've got a ton of things for you through the next couple of days. not just through tonight, right on through the holidays, too. we'll be here for the next couple of hours, just taking a look up, and the president, still in the white house. so nothing's happening until that man gets down here. >> maybe he can throw the switch from there. you know? we know you'll keep us posted. >> thanks, doug. coming up, marriage licenses were handed out to same-sex couples in maryland for the first time. we'll talk to the couple first in line in montgomery county. d.c.'s plans for medical marijuana, they are on hold. so how long before it could be available in the nation's capital? coming up in sports, hockey returns to the verizon center tonight. dan catches up with adam. new developments against a fairfax county teacher accused

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all righty. see the cars in front of the white house? that is the president's motorcade. the first family is going to go to the ellipse to light the national christmas tree. a little behind schedule, but it is beautiful. they have some great a-list talent there, entertaining the people who are gathered down

there, including our own doug kammerer, who we'll be checking with in just a few minutes, when the president gets there and the first family lights the tree and begin the christmas season. it will be happening momentarily, right after dan does the sports. >> beautiful down there. wow. >> it doesn't feel like christmas to hockey fans. >> no. but we do have some good news. because hockey is back at verizon center for at least tonight. the capitals minor league affiliates hershey bears taking on norfolk. anxiously waiting for the lockout to end. we caught up with the hall of famer this morning. and asked him what he remembered most about his emotional induction. >> it went off without a hitch. it was big. i got all my points across which was nice. i thanked the people i wanted to thank. because really, that's what it

ended up being. as i said in my speech, i got to play the game. everybody else had to watch me. i wanted to thank them for watching me all those years. and dealing with my moods, and for supporting me. you know, my parents supported me for 45 years of hockey. >> this lockout is getting frustrating for everybody. as a former player, you see it from their perspective. what is it like as a coach to watch this evolve and hopefully come to an end soon, because there are reports they're getting close. >> hopefully they are. i've just said all along, it's a work stoppage. it happens in all walks of life. not just sports. labor issues happen all the time. and that's what it is. you have to treat it like that. you have to be professional about it. it's a work stoppage. it happened to me as a player. but it's part of life. >> why does it happen more in hockey than any other major pro sport in the united states? >> you know, i really don't have

an answer for that. our sport has always been a sport trying to catch up to the other sports, and we don't have the tv revenue that other sports do. i think that has a factor on it. i don't have an answer, but it happens. >> brett hall said we will see a revitalized ovechkin this year because of you. how do you feel about that? >> i don't think that's a fair comment to him. ovi that i watch on tv and prescouting last year, is a very good hockey player. the game is a really hard game. nobody plays fantastic their whole career. i think he played good hockey last year. i think there could have been times he could have played better, but all in all, he's had a great year. there are a few things i could pass along to him that could make him more consistent, but i think ove played a solid season. i expect the same thing from him. >> where is this roster right now? is it still one of the top two or three rosters in the nhl? >> you know, that's a tough

question. it is obviously an upper echelon roster, no question. when you ask about what happened last year, the game of hockey is hard. it's not an easy game. as all sports are not easy. you can't just flip a switch. l.a. won the cup, they got in the play-offs by a point. and a lot of people would say, they underachieved for two years. i would say that. but when we played them, you know, they were fantastic. so any little thing can get someone going. i think last year, greg got the team going. gave them some confidence, that they were a good hockey team and they made strides in the play-offs. i'm hoping to tap into that, and help that grow. >> people are hoping to see hockey this year. the two sides, the nhl and the league have been talking the last two nights, burning the midnight oil. hopefully they can get something done in the near future. >> thank you, dan. coming up, metro's response

to safety, and why riders should feel secure. it's the largest gem of its kind in the world. and it's on display in the district. we'll tell you where you can find it. they're coming to the courthouse and they're going to get married. this is chris gordon at the montgomery county circuit court where the first same-sex marriage licenses were issued today.

the anticipation is building down at the ellipse where they are getting ready to light the national christmas tree. we saw the motorcade leaving the white house just a few minutes ago, so the guest of honor, the president, and his family will be there shortly. and doug kammerer is down there keeping an eye on things to tell us what's going on. >> reporter: yeah, guys -- great music. commodores still playing out there. they're playing a little more than they were expected to. but everybody still waiting for the national tree lighting to occur. it's going to be happening anytime now. one thing is for sure, we still have babyface. babyface is supposed to perform before the president comes on. we still have a couple of minutes before the tree lighting happens. they did a couple of things differently this year. they actually moved the stage around so that the stage and the national christmas tree are in the same location. before the stage was on one side, the christmas tree on another.

i think they did a pretty good job of lining everything up here. three things that are out there. as far as the weather's concerned a lot cooler than it's been over the last couple of days. right now, already into the 30s, up to the north and west, especially around frederick, around 36. gaithersburg coming in at 35 degrees. back towards dulles airport, coming in around 38 degrees. we're starting to cool off. we'll continue to do so throughout the rest of the evening. shower activity, showers to our south and west, and more showers back toward chicago. there is going to be a slight chance for shower activity early tomorrow morning. but that's really going to be about it. i think we're looking at a mostly dry day tomorrow. once again, a few showers could greet you tomorrow morning as you head out to work. overnight low temperatures around 30 degrees, up towards frederick. 36 degrees around washington. and 32 around manassas. tomorrow afternoon, we'll see a mixture of sun and clouds. starting off mostly cloudy, with sunshine in the afternoon.

high temperatures in the mid-50s across the area. not a bad day at all tomorrow. we'll come back later with the seven-day forecast. but also, with the president coming out. i think he's trying to see -- a lot of security. a lot of secret service. they're here now, which tells me something big's about to happen. >> they're trying to find a parking space. it's tough down there. >> reporter: that's right. >> thank you, doug. >> reporter: sue you guys in a minute. same-sex couples started getting marriage licenses. m the licenses are allowed to be issued. chris gordon live at the montgomery county courthouse in rockvale. >> reporter: good evening. here's what they came for, the new marriage license, two were issued to same-sex couples here at the courthouse in montgomery county. four in baltimore, three in

annapolis. the numbers may not sound high, but the level of excitement certainly is. >> we have one of the best relationships of anybody i know. we're crazy about each other. and we're going to get married. >> reporter: elizabeth mckenna has been with her partner ten years. she showed up early to be the first to get a marriage license here. and jouously showed it to us as she left the montgomery county courthouse. >> i'm just blown away. i didn't think this would ever happen. it's sort of taking a while to sink in. it's just so great to be normal. to just marry the person i love. >> reporter: maryland voters approved question 6 for marriage equality. and today the governor signed the referendum into law. it takes effect new year's day. so the licenses issued are dated january 1st, 2013. the clerk of the montgomery county circuit court explains how the wording on the marriage

license has been changed. >> we no longer have groom, bride, man, woman, or anything, we have party one and party two. this is for everyone who applies, whether it's a same-sex marriage or traditional one. >> reporter: her partner of 29 years asked we not identify her. they have been planning their wedding since the state voted for same-sex marriage in november. >> we cried. we teared up. i don't know how many times in the last couple of weeks getting prepared. but we appreciate the support of maryland. and we appreciate everybody's support. it's special to us to feel like everybody else. >> reporter: the same-sex couples we spoke with today acknowledge that maryland has given them legal rights the federal government has not. and they know that some day soon, the u.s. supreme court may be asked to determine the legality of the marriage act. the same-sex couples who applied for marriage licenses today say they hope momentum is on their

side. that's the latest live in montgomery county, chris gordon, news4. out west, dozens of same-sex couples also got their marriage licenses in washington state. just moments after the law legalizing gay marriage went into effect. large crowds cheering as the couples walked out of the king county auditor's office in seattle. more than 250 licenses issued. the first wedding to take place on sunday. washington was one of three states to approve same-sex marriage in the november elections. back here in the district, there have been delays to the city's medical marijuana program. pat lawson muse has more on what's slowing things down. >> city officials thought the medical marijuana program would be up and running in the district by now. but the news4 iteam has learned they haven't started growing a single plant yet. earlier this year, applicants got the go-ahead to register for licenses, to either grow or sell medical marijuana at ten sites,

all six of the cultivation centers are located in northeast, mainly in ward 5. most of the dispensaries are in northwest. there is one in southeast. but it's taking longer than initially thought to get the program going. right now, none of the applicants has received a certificate of occupancy, which they all need before they can get their business licenses to start operating. the city tells the news4 iteam they're waiting for all construction to be completed at the site so final inspections can be done. once the applicants get their business licenses, the department of health will give the green light for them to go ahead and start. it takes about 90 days for the plants to grow, so we're looking at a few more months, if not longer, before anyone can buy medical marijuana in d.c. for the first time, metro's leader is responding publicly to the deadly standing inside the metro station that killed a teenager last month. news4 transportation reporter adam tuss is live with exclusive reports on the gm's claims that

riders shouldn't worry. >> reporter: doreen, the general manager going on the record for the first time exclusively with news4, his message to riders, you're safe. >> we have 4,000 cameras on the system. why people commit crimes when they can be photographed, that's what's helping us. >> reporter: perhaps as much a cautionary tale for any future attacks on metro, general manager richard sarles said not only did the police see what was going on on november 17th, but they also responded fast. >> you can't necessarily prevent that, but you can, you know, capture the people as soon as possible. >> reporter: the attack left 18-year-old elijah juan griffin dead. it happened in the woodley park station after an earlier fight. should metro riders be worried about a similar attack? >> the folks that use our system feel very secure about the rail

system, and the bus system. obviously when something like this happens, it's of great concern. but you cannot absolutely prevent crime that happens. it's going on in the streets, and coming into the stations. >> reporter: a number of arrests have been made in the case and the case is still ongoing. what did you tell your police chief after that incident? >> good job. >> reporter: now as far as weapons being found hidden in the metro station after the stabbing, sarles would only say he's happy police were thorough in their investigation. reporting live in the district, adam tuss, news4. late this afternoon, metro started investigating some video that was presented to it. a rider claiming the driver was reading his newspaper while this bus was in motion. metro says it only sees the driver holding a newspaper in his hand but is looking into it. the rider who shot the video said it happened on the d-2 bus about a week ago. who's apologizing to the duchess of cambridge now that she's out of the hospital.

a gem that weighs nearly five pounds. discovered at a mine in brazil. and it's now here in the district

the lighting of the national christmas tree is going to be taking place shortly. the president is heading over there right now. he and the first family should be there. it has been a wonderful program

so far. it looks beautiful down there. and of course, this sort of kicks off the holiday season down there on the ellipse and downtown d.c., which is really decked out. we've got jason mraz, babyface. babyface is about to come up right now. doug kammerer, we'll be checking in with him shortly as well. the president and first family are going to be throwing the switch and lighting that tree momentarily. we will bring that to you. stay tuned. in the meantime, check out this sparkling gem. the smithsonian museum of natural history showed off the world's largest aquamarine. it's called the dom pedro gem. it was collected in brazil in the late '80s. it was named after brazil's first two emperors. it weighs nearly five pounds, that's about 10,363 carats. it's more than a foot tall. >> museums are places where people are inspired.

i want them to come and look at this and go, that is the most amazing thing i've ever seen. if they do that, they've had that moment. that's what we're about. we're inspiring awe in the natural word. >> the dom pedro gem will be part of the permanent collection at the natural history museum. >> it is pretty. >> spectacular. still ahead, gifts you can give this holiday season that benefit more than the person you're buying for. a warning about thieves targeting cars in arlington. they're not after purses or electronics. we'll tell you what they're taking off of some cars. they're taking care of the final details and preparing for the grand opening of the national children's museum. we're going to give you a first look at what this place

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woo! >> well, that was kenny "babyface" edmonds singing down at the ellipse as they get ready to light the national christmas tree. the anticipation is building. we're looking for the first family to be there momentarily, according to the schedule. the lighting of the tree is supposed to follow the performance by babyface. but we are not seeing a whole lot of action at the moment. we know our man, doug kammerer, is going to keep us posted and make sure we don't miss anything. we'll be going back to him just as soon as there's something happening. in the meantime we're going

to carry on with the news. a nasty surprise for some arlington residents. several people have walked out the door in the mornings and found their cars up on blocks without any wheels. the cases all happened in the past month, on december 3rd two suvs were targeted on south lang street. police say they're looking for at least two people, but don't have many or details yet. some gifts come with a story about the people who created them. and they have a value beyond the contents of the box. a local group is encouraging people to give these gifts this holiday season. it's indigo africa, a nonprofit. it works with women in are you wanda who create beautiful baskets and textiles. it helps them find customers here in the united states and the money goes back to the women in rwanda to provide for their families. they created a partnership with j. crew, nicole miller, and ralph lauren. >> the newthing about new africa is it creates distribution channels for these women to have

access to consumers that would never have access to their products prior. >> you can buy indigo africa's products online, go to nbcwashington.com and search african gifts. let's get one more check on our weather forecast. doug kammerer is live outside the white house now with the national christmas tree lighting. hey, doug. >> reporter: hey, guys. they just brought up neil patrick harris. you see him right there behind me. he's got on a very nice scarf. if you see neil patrick harris, you know things are about to get started here. they're about to bring up the president in the next couple of minutes to light the national christmas tree. we'll be here right on through the rest of the evening. >> celebrating 90 years of a very special national tradition. calvin coolidge has been part of this terrific event. millions of americans will, of course, be celebrating this holiday season with their own christmas traditions, but we're glad you joined all of us here for a night of music, memories

and quite possibly the coolest christmas tree in the world. [ cheers and applause ] we've already heard from babyface and the great navy band commedores. they're amazing. but plenty more music is on the way, including performances from james taylor, ledisi, and james taylor. and i would like to add a special welcome and word of thanks to the men and women in uniform around the world. we appreciate what you do. [ cheers and applause ] it is now my great honor to introduce a family that came all the way over here from all the way over there, ladies and

gentlemen, the first family of the united states! ♪ ♪ >> merry christmas, everybody! >> happy holidays to you, mr. president. >> happy holidays to you. >> is it time? >> i think it's time, sir. >> i think it's time. >> for the big button. >> i hope everybody's ready. we've got to do the countdown. starting with five. five -- >> four -- >> four, three, two, one!

[ cheers and applause ] ♪ >> that's beautiful. merry christmas, everybody. ♪ >> right now, the president taking his seat with the first lady and their family. they're going to sit down in the first row as they have the past couple of years and watch many of these performances coming up throughout the rest of the evening. again, james taylor, we've got jason mraz, the fray, which actually the president asked for himself. he actually asked them to play

at the national christmas tree lighting. so this is really going to be an amazing next hour. >> let us pray. >> all right. thanks, doug. now, let's check out what stories are trending online today. kate middleton is resting at kensington palace in london tonight. the duchess of cambridge left the hospital with prince william today. she spent the last four days there receiving treatment for severe morning sickness. she told reporters outside the hospital that she's feeling much better. meanwhile, the two radio hosts who called the hospital impersonating the queen and prince charles apologized again today. their prank exposed confidential information about the duchess' treatment. several of music's top acts performed at a concert for this year's grammy nominees. six different artists led the pack in terms of the most nominations, including kanye

west, jay-z, mumford and sons. and dan hourback of the black keys. nasa released unprecedented images of earth today. the pictures show twinkling city lights and other nighttime views never seen before, dubbed the black marble. they were taken during april and october this year. they provide a more realistic view of our planet. nasa has a new satellite to capture the new images. the new national children's museum is getting ready for a grand

this is the scene on eellipse. the first family throwing the switch a few minutes allege. that is ledisi entertaining everyone. a lovely scene down there. also tonight, the groundbreaking for the national children's museum, after years without a home. prince george's county bureau chief tracee wilkins gets a preview of the museum's new facility soon to open at national harbor. >> reporter: it's been eight years since the capitol children's museum closed in northeast washington after operating for three decades. but even without a home, the museum has still been active. >> we've been running what we've been calling a museum without walls program. we didn't have any walls. >> reporter: but now the walls are up. and in just a few days, the

museum will be ready to open its new doors at national harbor. there's still some moving going on, but one can clearly see what's beginning to take shape. >> we have a my town exhibit and named it prince george's county, because that's where we are. >> reporter: the museum will focus on geogafraphy, of the people's around the world. >> not everyone drives a shelf or ford. >> reporter: children ages 3 to 11 and their families will see what life is line in tanzania, and even guess what travelers may need to get there. >> kids get to guess where somebody's going by seeing what they've packed in their luggage. >> reporter: the sesame street play area is setp for children 3 and under and features your child's favorite characters. >> we're the home for sesame in the capitol region. >> reporter: the museum has scaled down from the $145 million project that was originally planned. the museum operators say that in

order to save time and money in a sluggish economy, the decision was made to consolidate to a 23,000-square foot, $5 million museum. that will still offer interactive education families have come to expect from the children's museum. >> we're trying to promote global citizenship. we do it in a way that's very playful. >> reporter: this is my favorite exhibit. learning about food from all over the world. even if the food's not real. if you're interested in coming down to the children's museum, the grand opening is going to be december 14th. it will be open seven days a week and there's a $10 entrance fee. tracee wilkins, news4. right now, president obama visited a northern virginia family today to put a face on the so-called fiscal cliff. tonight we talked with that family that's now in the national spotlight. a well-known senator handed in his resignation today. a few minutes ago the